Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

Official explanation seems fishy.

"Oncor officials told the National Weather Service that dust and dirt accumulated on the insulators over the years, combined with moisture from low-lying clouds and fog this morning, caused them to conduct electricity, sparking the fires."

Re: Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

not this stupid shit again, yes sun-tards there's a solar flare that is miraculously only affecting the Waco area, uh uh...yes the "official" version of dust accumulation combined with static electricity is a lie just to fool you incredibly clever absolute scientific geniuses, congratulations on your brilliance.

Re: Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

not this stupid shit again, yes sun-tards there's a solar flare that is miraculously only affecting the Waco area, uh uh...yes the "official" version of dust accumulation combined with static electricity is a lie just to fool you incredibly clever absolute scientific geniuses, congratulations on your brilliance.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 27515407

That is some really spiffy sarcasm there, genius... Cuz up here in Michigan where it is rainy and foggy all the time, we friggin' always have to clean our transformers to keep them from bustin' out into flame...

NOT!!!

Are you mental?????

Since when have you heard of four counties worth of transformers arcing and catching fire??

Re: Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

Spaceweather.com reported that solar activity was quiet during the period when the powerline arcing and fires occured in Central Texas.

"QUIET SUN: For the third day in a row, solar activity is very low. All of the sunspots on the Earthside of the sun are quiet, leading NOAA forecasters to put the daily odds of strong flares at no more than 1%."

Re: Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

Another article from the Waco Tribune-Herald:

Thousands of Central Texans without power early Thursday after poles catch fire

By KIRSTEN CROWkcrow@wacotrib.com

Thousands of Central Texans lost power early Thursday morning when dozens of utility poles in several counties caught fire, likely sparked by weather conditions, officials said.

The phenomenon that caused the fires, known as “tracking,” can occur when dust accumulated on the insulators of utility poles comes into contact with heavy fog conditions, according to experts. The moisture, combined with caked-on elements, can act as a conductor of sorts, causing electricity in the power lines to arc and the poles to catch fire, several experts said.

Although emergency and power officials said isolated incidents are not necessarily uncommon, several said the sheer number of such fires in such a short period of time Thursday morning was unique.

A work crew from Hilco Electric Cooperative works on one of dozens of Central Texas power poles that caught fire early Thursday. Rod Aydelotte / Waco Tribune-HeraldHilco Electric Cooperative, which serves Dallas, Ellis, Hill, McLennan and Johnson counties, had 26 poles catch fire — 24 of them in Hill and McLennan Counties, assistant general manager Lea Sanders said.

“We haven’t experienced anything of this magnitude before,” said Sanders, who has worked at Hilco for 13 years.

Reports of the fiery poles started emerging about 5 a.m., continuing through about 8 a.m., according to officials.

It was not known exactly how many total poles caught fire or how many total customers lost power in Central Texas because of arcing issues.

Oncor, one of the largest electric providers for the area, said outages affected 1,800 of their customers in McLennan, Hill, Navarro and Freestone counties, but Cain noted that the number does not include those served by electric co-ops.

Hilco Electric, for example, saw outages for 1,287 customers in its service area, Sanders said.

Areas of West Waco, Lorena, Hewitt and Elm Mott, as well as Baylor University, all were reported to have lost power at some point Thursday morning.

Electric company crews worked throughout the day restoring power, officials said.

The McAllen Monitor, a South Texas newspaper, reported a similar situation in the Rio Grande Valley in November.

According to one Monitor article, 18,000 customers in Hidalgo, Starr, Cameron and Willacy counties lost power after numerous pole fires, which officials blamed on similar weather circumstances.

Re: Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

From CBS 11 - DFW:

Power Pole Fire & Downed Lines Closes Interstate-30

December 6, 2012 11:25 AM

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Police in three North Texas cities combined forces to close Interstate-30 in Rowlett, near Lake Ray Hubbard.

A fire on a power pole had authorities concerned. Some power lines were down and flames partially burned through the pole. Authorities had been worried the pole would fall across both the eastbound and westbound lanes on Interstate-30.

Rockwall police was designated to close the highway on the westbound side of I-30, starting near Horizon. Police in Garland headed the closure of eastbound I-30, near the George Bush Turnpike and Chaha.

“We would recommend that before they take I-30 if they’re somewhere around 635 to maybe move down to 20 and work their way east, because all of our eastbound traffic is gonna be a problem for the next few hours,” Garland police spokesman Officer Mike Hatfield suggested during the closure.

Workers from Oncor quickly arrived on the scene and extinguished the flames. A company spokesperson said the power line was de-energized, allowing workers to put out the fire.

The view from Chopper 11 showed traffic at a standstill for miles in either direction, during the closure that lasted about an hour. Both directions of Interstate-30 were reopened just before 11:30 a.m.

Initially some thought a transformer sparked the flames, but during the course of repairs Oncor workers discovered that the fire was caused by arcing power lines.

Re: Power lines arcing and poles catching fire across four counties in central Texas.

not this stupid shit again, yes sun-tards there's a solar flare that is miraculously only affecting the Waco area, uh uh...yes the "official" version of dust accumulation combined with static electricity is a lie just to fool you incredibly clever absolute scientific geniuses, congratulations on your brilliance.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 27515407

That is some really spiffy sarcasm there, genius... Cuz up here in Michigan where it is rainy and foggy all the time, we friggin' always have to clean our transformers to keep them from bustin' out into flame...

NOT!!!

Are you mental?????

Since when have you heard of four counties worth of transformers arcing and catching fire??

Oh...yes, I know...the Carrington Event.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 18432713

I'm from Central California where it goes from Summer to Winter in one week, with heavy fog. If dust and static electricity from fog could cause arcing and pole fires, then one would expect this to happen often in California where conditions are ideal for it. But, it doesn't happen. I've never even heard of this phenomenon.